Final Blog Post

Final Blog Post

            This year I was in Computer Science II, which was a very unique experience. I learned a lot about what it means to collaborate in a group, and the importance of personal discipline. I realized too late that I had squandered away an excellent learning opportunity. Computer Science II taught me a lot about writing and design, but not much about code. Because my group was so good at coding, it was my job to design stories and mechanics for the games. I had a lot of fun doing this. The classroom definitely had a creative and open feel to it, but I made the mistake of taking advantage of that openness and using it to slack off and not learn very much about coding.

            One of the reasons that this class was so great was because of Mr. Stephens (I could have put “you” here, because I know Mr. Stephens is the only one who reads these blog posts). Mr. Stephens knows what he is doing with coding, and in AP I saw him use a curriculum and guide a class to success on the AP test. This year, there was no guidance, and that worked out for the majority of students in our CS2 class. Personally, I discovered that when left to my own devices, I tend to not work as hard as I could. While the class design was great and laid back, for people like me (who are susceptible to bouts of laziness) the class did not teach me as much as it could have. The fault is entirely mine. I did have a blast writing plot and talking with my group about code though, and experienced what it is like to work in a group with people that have different specialties (G did art, D did game code, A made cool effects, I wrote the plot and game concepts).

            To improve on the class, I think that the students should at least have an option to have a curriculum taught to them. If Mr. Stephens sees students “pulling a Frank” (you can use that if you want to) then he has the right as a teacher to have those kids learn a language or complete labs. It is a class, after all. The class is a great start to what could be one of the most creative and individual classes at LASA, but at the moment there’s a lot of room for fooling around. I took advantage of that and regret it immensely. I’m not saying I left the class with no additional knowledge, because I did learn some material in personal study, but I could have learned a lot more.

            Thanks for a great year!

                        Frank F 

Blog Post 5/13

This week the crew finalized our ideas for the game. We are running out of time to make our magnum opus. If we don't pull together soon, nothing may get done after all of this planning work. D is working hard on some Source stuff, G is working on some art, and A is working diligently on his "Rainbow Balls" (name by F) and I am working on some tutorials for photoshop and waiting for the rest of the group to start using it. I tell my group that we need to pull together but no one really listens to me. I may be the chief idea, but I'm not the boss. I need to work on my persuasion skills lest this project never get done.

Blog Post 4/6

This week I worked hard on the Plot (which I posted last time) for Ferozhead: Dimensional Traversal. Hopefully D and G can get to work on it soon, because our time is running out. This week I hope to continue working on the plot. I have decided that I am going to make the DGAF crew follow the plot, and explore it as a way to broaden our knowledge of syntax and procedure. When we learn to follow the script we will be close to making a game that people will actually want to play. A is working on his dots. Hopefully we can pull our efforts together before the end of the year, because I know if we can then we will make something great.

That's all for now from the CHIEF IDEA
-F

Blog 4/22

This week everyone has been working hard. Instead of giving all (one) of my readers a long, drawn out explanation of how and why I thought of this plot, I'll just post the plot itself! Here's your preview into the minds of the CHIEF IDEA of DGAF Studios. 

FEROZHEAD: DIMENSIONAL TRAVERSAL

SCENE 1: 1D ESCAPE

Mechanics: Player controls a dot the color of toast. Uses arrow keys to control acceleration and absorb smaller dots (similar to Osmos). As the motivation bar fills up, the background begins flashing and the dots start grouping together. Feroz yells “I AM NOT CONTENT WITH JUST ONE DIMENSION ANYMORE WAUUUUUGHHHHHH” and suddenly turns into FEROZHEAD.

SCENE 2: 2D ESCAPE

Mechanics: Motivation bar that increases per enemy killed

FEROZHEAD in a 2D world, defeating flying enemies by shooting them. As the motivation bar goes up, the screen starts to flash colors. Feroz yells “I AM NOT CONTENT WITH JUST TWO DIMENSIONS ANYMORE, WAUUUUUGHHHHHHHH” and suddenly turns into F3DROZ.

SCENE 3: 3D GREETINGS

Mechanics: The Motivation Bar fills up for completing challenges, actions. Can spend the Motivation bar by hitting a certain key, and then F3DROZ goes “WAUUUUUUGHHHHHH” and spends it to activate the next part of the story.

F3DROZ wakes up in the middle of a blank white expanse. An arrow on the ground is the only indicator of what actions he should take. The player takes his first step forward as F3DROZ, giving the player 100% of the Motivation points needed. The button for the  Motivation Activation will flash on the screen and the player will activate it. Upon “WAUUUUUUUGHHHHHH” the world will become full of grasses, trees, houses, and F3DROZ will have a gun. Feroz shouts “This is more like it!” and fires his INT3RDIMENSIONAL TRANSGRESSOR (with BLAND bullets, upgradeable later on in the game to have different power-ups that can be switched out with ease) into the air.


SCENE 4: THE TEAS3D

F3DROZ has all unlocks enabled and obliterates bears that come at him from all sides. The player will experience the overwhelming power of fully upgraded F3DROZ. Suddenly, the screen begins to blur and a face comes up on the screen.

FARHAN: Beya! Beya! What are you doing in 3D! Get back here! 2D is where you belong!

F3DROZ: You can’t stop my freedom!

FARHAN holds up a remote control. He hits a button, and F3DROZ is downgraded to level 1 of everything.

F3DROZ: No, my 3D power! WHY?!?!

FARHAN: Hahaha, you will never be able to defeat my minions. I will defeat you and send you back to the world of 2D!

F3DROZ (To himself): If I can just make it to the end of this level, I can at least make sure I won’t be sent back to 2D. HERE I GO!

The player uses the arrow keys to control direction and angle of walking, all enemies will be on the same plane. F3DROZ must navigate through a small village, dodging barrels that bears throw at him by walking to the side of them or shooting them. His gun is very slow and not very powerful though, so he must shoot the barrels once to destroy them, and the bears twice. This can be upgraded later. Each bear shot will yield 5 points. There will be 6 bears total on the road.

After making it through the town by following the arrows on the ground, F3DROZ will need to step in to the GOLD STAR ZONE on the ground at the end of the road. This will conclude the level and direct the player to the INTERDIMENSIONAL SHOP ZONE.

SCENE 4.5: INTERDIMENSIONAL SHOP ZONE

F3DROZ: I can rest here for a while, and upgrade my equipment while I’m at it. I can make myself stronger and more ready to take this dimension on.

The player can direct F3DROZ to one of 4 doors: Weapons, Power, Defense, Style, and Done.

The first gun the player has has a speed of 1 and a power of 1. By mousing over other choices the player can see how they compare to the weapon he is currently using.

Weapons unlocked (available for purchase) by this level:
3D PEA SHOOTER - A gun. Your puny pistol can hardly compete with this bad boy. Starting stats: Speed: 3 Power: 2. Price: 25 Dimension Points (DP)

Power Upgrades unlocked (available for purchase) by this level:

3D PEA SHOOTER (REQ. WEAPON):
Pack a (Pea) Punch: +1 Power 20 DP
So S(Pea)dy: +1 Speed 20 DP

Defense unlocked (available for purchase) by this level:
+1 Life: 50 DP

Style unlocked (available for purchase) by this level:
Sunglasses: 15 DP

Upon walking through the “Done” door, players will have an “EQUIP” screen in front of them. By using the menus with the same four categories as the I.S. (minus Defense), players will switch between weapons/upgrades. The “Style” option also is here, and players will enable which pieces of Interdimensional Swag they will equip, which adds a 5% bonus DP earned per piece of swag they have on. This can be explained in the shop tutorial.

The player will select “Complete” and then, after being asked whether they are sure, proceed onto the next level.

SCENE 5: A WARM WELCOME

F3DROZ (equipped with whatever purchased items the player has chosen) walks into a huge lava filled cavern. The screen blurs and again FARHAN’s face appears on the screen.

FARHAN: This is part of the awful 3D world you are a part of, beya~ I will save you! Minions, apprehend that man!

F3DROZ must fight through a lava filled path. In some places, the lava rises and falls, causing the player to think about when to wait and when to go. After the lava seeps back down, the player can run through these dangerous areas.

The main enemy present here are the bats. Bats fly fast at the player and wait 1.0 seconds charging an attack and then dash forwards. The bats will take the player’s position at the beginning of this charge time, and then at the end dive forward at high speed towards that place. This will force players to constantly move and be on the lookout for these bats. Bears will still be there throwing barrels. Bats are worth 10 DP each and bears are still worth  5 DP. After a while the end of the path will appear, and the player will step onto the GOLD STAR ZONE and end the level.

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That's it for the preview. Tune in next week and don't forget to check out the store and buy FEROZHEAD merchandise!

Blog Post 4/15

This is a bit of a backblog, so I'll try to remember what we were up to around this time.

This week D was playing around with 3D while A worked more with C#. G is working hard at learning more about the software and make some really cool stuff in Blender. Soon we will start our ultimate product, our magnum opus, our GRAND FINALE. I will start working on the plot for this game shortly. I will be sure to post it on this blog. The idea is to have a game that is about FEROZHEAD's journey to the 3 dimensional universe, where he runs and guns through levels of enemies. Hopefully we'll be able to make the game more challenging, because our products in the past have been too easy to be considered enjoyable for the masses.

That's all for now!
-F

Blog Post 4/1/12

This week I worked nonstop, without sleeping. I worked until my fingers were bone and my mind was mush. I pumped out line after line of code until there was nothing left of the keyboard.

April Fools. I slacked off a little this week.

I wasn't here for one day of the week, and my group was gone on another day. There was no one to collaborate with, so my skills as Chief Idea fell short. I worked a little bit more in Wings3D but I had nothing to make so it was kind of pointless. I learned a little, but this week was not one of the greatest at DGAF studios.

Signing off for now,
-F

Blog Post 3/25

This week I worked in Wings3D some more, working with complex geometry. I need to start animating some of the stuff I've made, which hopefully can be done in the new software G obtained a license for. I like working in Wings3D though, so I may continue with that for a while.

D is working with Source SDK, G is working on some art stuff, and A is working on some really cool Processing stuff. It should be a good week here at DGAF studios. I think I'm going to work in Source with Doug, I've enjoyed that in the past.